• Michael Dietsch of A Dash of Bitters continues on with his Five Essential Cocktails series by covering rum. While many of these drinks like the Daiquiri and Hurricane have had their name stolen for syrupy horrors, the originals as Michael presents them are exquisite drinks!
• Speaking of rum, A Mountain of Crushed Ice’s Tiare travels over to London for the UK Rumfest. She presents recipes from Beachbum Berry’s “Don’t fear the blender” seminar, the award recipients, and lots of great photos of the event.
• Camper English of Alcademics wishes a happy 60th birthday to the Galliano Alexander, otherwise known as the Golden Cadillac. He also covers the menu changes SF’s Jasper’s Corner Tap and the Starlight Room and Manresa and the drinks at the new Wo Hing General Store, Monterey’s 1833, and NY’s Le Bernardin. His reviews of some of these bars were published in Class Magazine.
• The Cocktail Virgin/Slut, Frederic Yarm, writes about a few drinks he had out including Misty Kalkofen’s mezcal-laden Beneficio de Cafe and Eastern Standard’s Bourbon Derby Flip. He also has a pair of Rogue Cocktails drinks, one in — the Racketeer, and one out — 2 Cups of Blood. Other drinks he had at home were Robert Hess’ Black Feather and Brian Block’s chocolate-infused Negroni variation, the Portolono.
• Matt Rowley of the Whiskey Forge offers up a hangover-helping recipe for bacon dumplings and pontificates over one of the more famous drunkard authors, Charles Bukowski.
• The RumDood, Matt Robold, reviews Novo Fogo Cachaça with aromas of “grassy… honey, citrus, and green apple” and makes a lighter style Caipirinha with it to let this spirit shine in the glass.
• Marleigh of Sloshed presents two Halloween-themed drinks in time for the season: the Devil’s Own, Jason Schiffer’s rum and Fernet concoction, and the Diamondback, a dual spirit plus Chartreuse wonder from Bottom’s Up.
• Cocktail Chronicles’ Paul Clarke offers up his Mixology Monday breakfast-themed drink, the Black Velvet. His theory is that if you are truly hungover, complex mixology and ice banging around in a shaker should be left to other people.
• Doug of the Pegu Blog shares a link to the gin flavor wheel that helps to provide flavor and aroma suggestions for tasting new gins.
• The stomp through the Savoy Cocktail Book continues as Erik Ellestad provides the diverse history and interpretation of the Whisky Daisy and to a lesser extent the Santa Cruz Rum Daisy. His beer of the week is Ovila Abbey Saison which contains some delicious earthy, spicy, and citrus flavors.

This Thursday night at the Mixoloseum chat room, the theme will be “tall drinks” which is perfect now that the weather is getting warmer! So dust off your Collins glasses and start freezing some extra ice cubes to get ready. Everything from Fizzes to Collins, Tiki to Slings, and Rickeys to Daisies is fair game! The action starts at 8pm EST and goes until the last bottle of tonic is drained (around 1am).

The last TDN theme was “In Memorial” to honor a loved one or something completely absurd yet missed. A pair of recipes to represent some of the action (the rest are on the Twitter feed) are the following:

The Elizabeth Reed Cocktail created by SunnyAndRummy
• 1 oz Scarlet Ibis Rum (sub a flavorful amber rum, Trinidadian if you got it)
• 1 oz Old New Orleans Cajun Spice Rum (sub another spiced rum)
• 1/2 oz Maple Syrup
• 1 tsp St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
Shake with ice and double strain into a cocktail glass.

Basil’s Julep created by theSpeakista
• 1 1/2 oz Old Tom Gin
• 1 1/2 oz London Dry Gin
• 1/2 oz St. Germain
• 2 dash Grapefruit Bitters
• 2 dash Orange Bitters
• 3 Basil Leaves
Stir on crushed ice until the glass is frosted. Garnish with bitters and sprigs of basil.

Trader Tiki’s Exotic Syrups was the theme this last Thursday Drink Night – a new line of syrups from CSOWG’s own Blair Reynolds AKA Trader Tiki.  Perfect for those too lazy to make their own orgeat, vanilla syrup, Don’s Mix (grapefruit and cinnamon) and cinnamon syrup but too picky to use the other commercial varieties.  The prize for best drink is a case of Trader Tiki’s Exotic Syrups, a glorious pufferfish lamp, and an 8×11 picture of beautiful desert landscape signed by Trader Tiki himself!

Check out the recipes then vote! (Poll below recipes)

Lagoon of Aitutaki: 2 oz aged agricole rhum, 3/4 oz pineapple juice, 3/4 oz grapefruit juice, 1/2 oz lime juice, 1/4 oz Trader Tiki orgeat, 1/4 oz Trader Tiki Don´s Mix

Wandering Italian: 1 oz pisco, 1 oz lemon juice, 3/4 oz Combier, 1/2 oz sloe gin, 1/3 oz Trader Tiki Don’s Mix, 3 dashes Angostura, 1t Carpano Antica float.

Frost Arrow’s Quiver: 2 oz spiced rum (Kraken), 1 oz LH151, 1 oz lime, 3/4 oz Trader Tiki vanilla, 1 dash Angostura, 2 oz ginger beer.

Cupid’s Day Off: 2 oz añejo tequila, 3/4 oz Campari, 1/2 oz kirschwasser, 1/4 oz vanilla syrup, 1/2 oz hibiscus grenadine, 1/2 oz pink grapefruit juice, shake, serve over crushed ice, float crema de mezcal.

Smoke Gets In Your Mai Tai: 1 1/2 oz mezcal, 3/4 oz Royal Combier, 1/2 oz lemon juice, 2 tsp Trader Tiki orgeat. Shake, serve up.

Ali Raja: 1 1/2 oz aged Trinidad rum, 3/4 oz Don’s Mix, 1/2 oz Demerara rum, 1/2 oz Smith&Cross rum, 1/2 oz Orange curacao, 1/4 oz grapefruit juice, 2d Whiskey Barrel Aged bitters, 4 drops Herbsaint, swizzle all with crushed ice and float 1/2 oz tawny port.

Lift-off!: 1/2 oz orange juice, 1/2 oz lime juice, 1 1/2 oz dark rum, 1/2 oz 151 Demerara rum, 1/2 oz cinnamon syrup, 1/4 oz falernum, 1d Angostura. Shake w/crushed ice-serve in double old-fashioned glass.

Sherwin’s Punch: 1 oz Calvados, 1 oz Appleton Extra, 3/4 lemon juice, 1/2 Grand Marnier, 1/2 oz Don’s Mix, 3-4 dashes mole bitters,  3-4 dashes Angostura. Shake w/ coarse crushed ice, strain into double old-fashioned glass over coarse crushed ice, orange wheel garnish.

TraderTiki’s Witch Hazel: 1 1/2 oz Laird’s Bonded applejack, 1 oz Zacapa rum, 1/2 oz Strega, 1/2 oz Trader Tiki cinnamon syrup, 1/2 oz lime juice, 2d Angostura, shaken/strained.

Voltron: 1 1/2 oz rye whiskey, 1/2 oz grenadine, 3/4 oz orange juice, 1/4 oz Don’s Mix. Shake and double strain into a pastis rinsed cocktail glass.

A few weeks ago while working my way through the 100 cocktails Bobby Heugel of Anvil in Houston thinks everyone should try at least once list, I was confronted with the Cuba Libre. The Cuba Libre is a step up from a standard Rum and Coke by including lime juice and often lime peel oils to the mix. To prepare for this drink, I hunted out sugar coke (not the high fructose variety) from a local Brazilian mini-mart for use later that evening. Both Charles H. Baker in Jigger, Beaker and Glass and Trader Vic in one of the recipes found in his Bartender’s Guide had a similar recipe which I went with:

Cuba Libre
• 2 oz Gold or Light Rum
• Juice of 1 Lime (~ 1 oz)
• Lime Shells (2 Halves) after Squeezing
Place ingredients in Collins glass and muddle the lime shells well to get oils on the side of glass. Add ice, fill with Coca Cola (~ 4 oz), and give a quick stir.

Rum and Coke
• 2 oz Light Rum
• 4 oz Coca Cola
Build in a highball glass filled with ice cubes. Garnish with a lime wedge.

While some recipe sources for the Cuba Libre skip the lime shell muddling and just request dropping in the shells, the lime oils do add a bit to the drink. Moreover, I was surprised that some Cuba Libre recipes are indistinguishable from a standard Rum and Coke. However, skipping the lime juice would remove some of the complexity besides making the drink seem sweeter.

When thinking about how the Cuba Libre is a step up from a Rum and Coke, I wondered if there was yet another step up from that while still in the realm of highball cola drinks. My search led me to the Mandeville (Polar) which was most likely named after the city in Jamaica. I combined a few recipes to make the following hybrid:

Mandeville
• 1 oz Light Rum (Tommy Bahama White Sand)
• 1 oz Dark Rum (Appleton Estate VX)
• 1/4 oz Pernod
• 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
• 1/4 oz Grenadine
Shake with ice and strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Top off with 3 oz Coca Cola, and garnish with an orange slice. Optional: Prepare in a 200 mL soda bottle after pouring out half the soda volume; serve with straw.

The Mandeville’s garnish provided a wonderful orange nose which prepared the senses for the citrus notes in the lemon juice and the cola. The crispness of the lemon’s citric acid and the soda’s phosphoric acid hit first in the sip followed by a muddled fruit flavor from the citrus and grenadine. The Pernod came through on the swallow along with some of the white rum’s heat. To me, it was all about the Pernod giving the drink some extra class. I found the Pernod and coke flavors to be quite complementary which may not be too surprising considering the spice extracts that are allegedly in the Coca Cola recipe. The hint of anise in the Mandeville also lent the drink a slight Tiki feel.

Cross-posted to the CocktailVirgin blog.

The fragrance of nutmeg is very special, i cannot even really describe it, its spicy-woody and fresh, nutty and very satisfying.

Most often i connect nutmeg with either christmas drinks or libations from the caribbean both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Nutmeg and carrot juice  is a common combo for instance among the non-alcoholic drinks. Nutmeg pairs well with drinks containing milk and cream, maybe that´s the reason its so common around christmas. Its also often use to top various punches.

The nutmeg spice itself is often ground – its a brown nut encased first by the red mace which is sweeter and then by a yellowish shell.

Nutmeg is one of the oldest spices known. It comes from an evergreen tree (myristica fragrans) native to the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, near Indonesia. This tree is bearing a nut with two separate flavors. Nutmeg is one flavor and the mace another, achieved by grinding the lacy outer covering surrounding the nutmeg.

It has a warm spicy flavor and as heat greatly diminishes its flavor its best added towards the end of cooking and should be grated fresh. Mace is often preferred in light-coloured dishes as it gives a saffron-like bright orange colour.

When i experimented with a drink for the Tiki TDN last Thursday i wanted to play with my bottle of Old New Orleans Cajun Spiced Rum that i brought home with me from the Tales. I found that this rum pairs well with aged agricole. For that drink i used one of my favorites which is Clèment VSOP – a smooth agricole rum with good flavour.The drink  Po`aha Punch (in Hawaiian Po`aha means Thursday) was dusted with nutmeg powder on top of crushed ice – a common way to crown many tiki (and other) drinks.

PO´AHA PUNCH

1oz Old New Orleans Cajun Spiced Rum
1oz El Dorado 15yo
1 oz Clemènt VSOP, 0.5 oz fresh lime
¼ oz simple syrup
0.5 oz coffee liqueur
1t cream of coconut,
Fresh pineapple juice to top.

Run in blender until smooth with crushed ice. Pour in tall glass, top with fresh pineapple juice and more crushed ice to fill, dust nutmeg on top and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

I get more and more convinced that i live in the wrong place..not long ago it was national tequila day and now its rum day! there´s nothing like that here…ok its crawfish season but still – i mean i love crawfish and to me thats serious business but i have seen them since i was one year old! I have never celebrated national rum day in my life..so what the Americans do? i guess they drink their favorite rum..so that`s what i`m gonna do now, raise a toast to RUM!

And now comes the problem..which rum to choose? i don´t have one or two rums..and i like them all! i can´t mix a drink with them all though, even if that could be a hell of a tiki drink (or more likely a total confusion;-)

I can´t say either which type of rum i prefer as it depends on my mood for the day or occasion. My favorite rum is El Dorado 15 year, has always been and always will i suppose. Others i count among the best are Silver Seal 15yo demerara and a range of other demeraras including El Dorado`s 3 year old cask aged.

Not to forget Appleton..or JWray, Mount Gay, Zacapa, Zaya, Oronoce etc i could go on for much longer.

Then we have all the agricoles..and i think that`s exactly what i`m gonna use this time, i`m gonna make a Ti Punch, its simple and its tasty and gives me an occasion to try one of the best presents i got with me from New Orleans – my Bois Lélé – the pronged wooden swizzle stick plucked from a tree in Martinique.

TI PUNCH

2 oz Rhum Agricole

1/2 oz Sugar Cane Syrup

A large lime

In a rocks or old-fashioned glass, squeeze the lime slice and pour the Sugar Syrup over the lime, which has been cut from the side of the lovely little aromatic green fruit so that the aromatic oils from the peel will flavor the drink.

Add the rum and use a swizzle stick or a simple bar spoon to stir the drink until the syrup is dissolved; add a tablespoon of crushed ice or a big cube and briefly stir again to chill the drink which is to be leisurely sipped.

Enjoy and happy rum day!

And now my question is  – who started up a National Rum Day?

After all the heat in New Orleans and the summer isn´t over yet even though much cooler here than say +37 – and the humidity is not 100% but its always welcome with a tikidrink. This post´s theme is a Summer Tiki Drink containing a new product – Root.

Of course i drink tikidrinks all the time – in the winter they also serves as a vehicle of escapism away from the cold of the winter mentally taking you to Polynesia. But in the summer they also cools you and who can resist a real tikidrink served in either a sturdy tikimug or a beautiful glass which lets you see the colors and the ice..

So here we go.

I got quite a bit of inspirations for all kinds of flavour combinations from my recent trip to the US and one of the most interesting new flavors i can work with now which arrived to my homebar just a week before myself is Root which is a new certified-organic 80-proof spirit, and dubbed “the first true American liqueur since the pre-Prohibition era.” – its spicy and deep and less sweet than rootbeer.

First was the potent root-tea which the settlers during the 1800th century picked up from the native Americans and which later gave the temperance people the idea of making root- beer by removing the booze. Root today is made by some folks callling themselves “Art In The Age of Mechanical Reproduction” in partnership with the folks behind Hendrick’s Gin. This is a PA product, distilled in California by Modern Spirits.

Root is said to be good with birch beer and ginger ale but its also a good ingredient for tikidrinks. I guess its good with ginger beer as well, a Root and Stormy maybe?

So i just had to try Root in a tikidrink and immediately felt it would be good with dark rum, they seem to be natural companions to me. But i also added some white rum, lime, simple sugar and to give some more depth i muddled grilled pineapple.

Garnish with pineapple skin, mint and one of those merry cocktail parasols – oh yeah.

I call the drink Mahalo – which means thank you in Hawaiian, to thank you all who have helped me in life.

MAHALO

1 oz dark Jamaican rum

1 oz white rum

0.5 oz fresh lime juice

0.5 oz simple syrup

2 sliced fresh pineapple rounds, grilled

4-5 tsp Root

1-2 oz fresh grapefruit juice (yellow)

Ice

Grill the pineapple rounds, cool and cut in chunks to muddle with simple syrup in shaker. Add the other ingredients and shake with ice. Double strain into a ice filled jazz glass from New Orleans. Top with some grapefruit juice.

Spear a piece of pineapple skin in a spiral manner and top with a merry parasol.

Throw in a piece of fresh mint on the side.

Enjoy!

This is an experiment with Root, maybe more of it would make a better drink? its spicier than root beer and not so sweet. The 4 teaspoons i added to the drink gave a subtle hint of something, that if you didin´t know what it was you would know something`s there but not exactly what. And in say a tikidrink that sort of mystery is just perfect.

I need to experiment more with this.

Have you yet tried Root?

This interesting drink recipe is from Sippin`Safari and originates from the Hotel King Kamehameha in Kona, Hawaii, as the origin of the drink around 1960.

KAMEHAMEHA RUM PUNCH

Named after the Hotel King Kamehameha in Kona, Hawaii, as the origin of the drink. But really..the hotel took the name after a great Hawaiian King – Kamehameha.

Also known as Kamehameha the Great, Kamehameha was the head of a dynasty ruling the Hawaiian islands for more than a century. The name Kamehameha (pronounced kuh-may-ha-may-ha) means “the one set apart.” He conquered the Hawaiian islands and formally established the Kingdom of Hawai`i in 1810.

Every year on Kamehameha Day (June 11, a state holiday in Hawai’i), National Statuary Hall is the scene of a ceremony in honor of the king and the statue of Kamehameha the Great is draped with lovely leis of fragrant flowers from Hawai’i. The Festival continues to pay tribute to Kamehameha and acts to preserve and perpetuate the Hawaiian culture.

RECIPE

1 oz Light Rum
2 oz Unsweetened Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1 tsp Blackberry Brandy (i used Creme de Cassis)
1 tsp Grenadine (i used my homemade hibiscus grenadine, which adds a fresh tropical floral aroma)
1 tsp Sugar Syrup
1 oz Dark Rum

Shake everything but the dark rum with ice and strain into a tall or rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Float dark rum on top, and garnish with a pineapple chunk speared to a cherry.

In my researches for the history of this punch i stumbled upon an interesting version which was written a year ago and which i`ve somehow managed to miss, the Kamehameha Mighty Punch from Kaiserpenguin - using cayenne pepper! and Tahitian limeade – ingredients so interesting they catched my attention 100% and of course i had to try this version of the rum punch too.

KAMEHAMEHA MIGHTY PUNCH

2oz. pineapple juice
0.5oz mango puree
1oz. tahitian limeade (see below)
1.5oz amber rum
cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients except pepper with ice cubes and shake.Strain into a glass with a wide mouth.Dust with cayenne pepper and garnish if you must.

( Yes i must…and now when the fragrant honeysuckle is everywhere its the perfect summer garnish)

I really like the Mighty Punch, its nice with the slight pepper heat from the cayenne carefully dusted on the surface.

TAHITIAN LIMEADE

Mix fresh juice with 3-5 parts simple syrup and use coconut water instead of the original water. Here the coconut water comes in cans and is sweetened so i didn`t add any simple syrup to my cocktail.If you can get fresh unsweetened coconut water – its the best.

I also made a variation of this and added sugarcane juice instead of coconut water and with the rum it turned out really tasty. No syrup in this one either.

SUGARCANE LIMEADE

Mix with sugarcane juice instead and omit simple syrup. This makes for a sweet cocktail – for those with a sweet tooth.

The BarSol Pisco TDN was a great success, with 22 original cocktails created featuring this grape brandy spirit. We really enjoyed the participation of Diego Loret de Mola, who shared his knowledge and passion for pisco with us.

Here’s the contenders for this week’s prize, a bottle of Peruvian bitters, courtesy of Mud Puddle Books. Be sure to vote!

Que Lastima

• 2 oz Barsol Quebranta
• 0.75 oz lime juice
• 0.5 oz cinnamon syrup
• 0.25 oz Falernum
• 1 dash Fees Old Fashioned Bitters
• 1 dash Pimento Dram

Shake briefly with crushed ice and spent lime half, pour into old fashioned glass

Viejo Peruano

• 2 oz pisco
• 0.25 oz Galliano
• 1 tsp simple syrup
• 3 dashes celery bitters
• Orange peel

Gently muddle orange peel with celery bitters. Add Galliano and simple syrup and stir with an ice cube. Add Pisco and more ice and stir again.

Mental Roulette

• 1.5 oz pisco
• 0.75 oz Campari
• 0.5 oz lemon juice
• 0.5 oz falernum

Shake with full concentration, strain into a glass filled with crushed ice.

Industrial Sex

• 1oz pisco
• 1oz cachaca
• 0.5 oz Averna
• 0.5 oz vanilla syrup
• 0.5 oz lime juice
• 1 dash whiskey barrel-aged bitters

Shake like a paint mixer, strain into a cocktail glass

La Fineza

• 1.5oz BarSol Quebranta
• 1 oz dry vermouth
• 0.5 oz Aperol
• 0.25 oz Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
• 1 teaspoon rich simple syrup (to taste)
• 1 green apple slice for garnish

Stir with a smooth, flowing motion, strain into your most elegant cocktail glass, and garnish with green apple slice

South American Flip

• 1 whole egg
• 0.75 oz falernum
• 2 oz pisco
• 0.5 oz Cynar
• 0.5 oz simple syrup
• 0.75 oz lime juice
• nutmeg

Shake your money maker and strain into glass

Now it’s your turn. Vote for the best Pisco drink! Polls will stay open through midnight Tuesday, just in case you’re taking Monday off to enjoy Memorial Day.

The Mixoloseum is hosting a chat with Wayne Curtis, author of And a Bottle of Rum, cocktail maven, and all around rum wizard. The festivities begin online at 7pm EST tomorrow (Tue) night.

Have a question about rum? Something as simple as how it’s made, or as obscure as what percentage of rum is produced using pure cane juice vs. molasses. Stuff them into your most gilded treasure chest and tote them along for tomorrow night.

The Details

When: Tomorrow night (Tue) at 7pm EST
Where: http://bar.mixoloseum.com
What to Bring: Your favorite sipping rum

Join the rum chat!